"The author, George A. Martin, knows his subject, not only fence building but the farm and its requirements. He knows the stock: the unconfinable pig, the dexterous cow. He knows his materials, especially wood. I count twenty-one species of tree in the text, each especially suited for a particular application. He knows the value of work well done, done to last, and he aims to give value himself, in authorship as in the building of simple necessary structures."
